Invictus
by Dawn N
Summary: Harper is injured on a mission with Tyr, and the Nietzschean is forced to make a decision that will change both of their lives.


Invictus  
By Dawn Nyberg  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Andromeda and no harm is intended.  
  
** Note: This is my first fanfic in the Andromeda universe and is set in an Alternate Universe. **  
  
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Beka was pacing around the deck. "There is an uprising going on down there, Dylan. You shouldn't have send Harper."  
  
"The planet scans show that the side with the mineral ore is safe. We need that ore; it's rare and can be synthesized. It will benefit the new Commonwealth. Tyr has knowledge of the prides involved in the uprising and Harper needs to link up with onboard computer to process the information. We've been over this Beka."  
  
"If Harper gets hurt." Her tone was threatening.   
  
Dylan was irritated, but said nothing.  
  
"Captain," Andromeda's voice echoed through the air.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"My recent data projections show a two hour delay on the last reports concerning the planet. My current scan shows that the Sabra and Jaguar pride war is nearing the location of Tyr and Harper."  
  
"Damn! Can you contact them?"  
  
"Negative, sir. The ore won't allow for transmissions. It is interfering with radio communications."  
  
"See I told you, Dylan. Now what? We have to help them." Beka was livid.  
  
"We can't do anything, but wait. Tyr will make sure they get back alive."  
  
"He better!"  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
  
Meanwhile on the Planet  
  
"Silence and stay down!" Tyr hissed as he held Harper's head down below the rock. The young man kept trying to raise it in order to look at the action.  
  
"We're gonna die! I don't want to die!" Tyr grabbed the young man's head and covered his mouth with a broad hand.  
  
"Shut your mouth, boy," he growled out. "I will not die here today because you can not keep quiet." Harper whimpered in fear, but remained quiet under his companion's hard glare.  
  
The Nietzschean watched the two approaching members of opposite prides. He knew this wasn't going to be good. There would be a fight and he didn't want to get caught in the crossfire - Harper was a hindrance, and Tyr had no choice, but to get him back alive.  
  
"Do as I say. Do you see that cavern entrance over there?" Tyr pointed a small distance away from where they were hidden.  
  
"Yeah." Harper answered.  
  
"Run! Don't look back. I'll cover us - if we're spotted."  
  
Harper - Tyr had always surmised was both young and never listened to him unless he threatened him and this time was no different. Harper didn't listen and that was what saved Tyr's life in the end. Harper was too afraid to run ahead and lagged back - much to Tyr's chagrin. Harper looked back and realized they had been spotted as Tyr turned to open fire -- another member from the opposing pride came into view behind Tyr. Tyr and the Sabra pride member fired on each other - Tyr dropped the other Nietzschean with ease, but the moments that followed would leave him changed.  
  
"Tyr! Look out!" Harper shoved the Nietzschean aside before he could do anything. Harper took a shot from a Gauss Gun in the side. Tyr caught Harper before he hit the ground in one arm and with his free hand returned fire and killed the Jaguar pride member.  
  
"Damn you, boy!"  
  
"Is that your idea of Nietzschean gratitude?" Harper attempted a smile and passed out. Tyr checked the boy's pulse and breathing. He was alive, but bleeding.  
  
"You better not have any ideas of dying today," he said in a stern voice - void of emotion or humor. He picked up Harper in one fluid motion and headed for the cover of the cavern. He would look for a safe place deep inside. He felt assured that the Maru would not be located it was over the ridge and the battle was headed away from where they were. Tyr settled Harper and decided he needed some items from the Maru, but before he left he made a make shift pressure bandage with what they had. Harper still lay unmoving.  
  
Tyr returned a short time later and found Harper still unconscious. He opened the med supplies he had retrieved from the Maru. The wound was a through and through and needed stitching. The bandage was soaked with blood. Tyr threw the bloodied bandage aside. "Harper?" He watched the young man for any sign of waking. He reached into an extra bag - he had gathered some plant life that had some blood clotting and bacterial fighting benefits. They would only buy a little time. He rolled Harper onto to his side. He would sew his back first. He put some of the ground up plant extract into the wound. Harper moaned, but did not waken.  
  
Tyr began to stitch the wound - he didn't get far. Harper's eyes snapped open and he yelled. Tyr growled as he covered Harper's mouth. "Be quiet . . . or do you want to alert the entire planet and bring two Nietzschean prides to our location." He stared into Harper's wide pain filled eyes. The young man nodded.  
  
"Please, Tyr," he begged quietly. "Don't . . . it hurts."  
  
"Yes, I imagine it does for a Human. Focus on something away from the pain. Become more than the pain," Tyr said sternly as he pushed the sharp sewing instrument through Harper's skin.  
  
"Shove your Nietzschean philosophy where the sun doesn't shine," Harper hissed out under his breath. Tyr broke a slight smile, but Harper didn't see.  
  
"Anger works too," he offered. "You must stay still. You're losing a lot of blood."  
  
"Really? I didn't know that." Harper hurt, was scared, and weak, but he was also pissed. Tyr pushed slightly against Harper's wound in frustration and the young man quietly yelped from the pain it caused.  
  
**** Four Hours Later ****  
  
Harper looked almost gray to Tyr except for the color filling the boy's cheeks. He reached out to Harper and the youth flinched. The Nietzschean looked at him for a moment - they silently evaluated the other. He slowly reached out again and felt Harper's forehead - it was fevered. He sat back, "You should have listened to me," his voice menacing.   
  
"You'd be dead," Harper answered quietly as he watched Tyr through heavy eyelids.  
  
"I gave you an order and you defied me."  
  
"You're not my Master!" Harper's voice rose. "I'm starting to think I made a mistake saving your Nietzschean better than everyone ass! Superior life form, eh? More like superior asshole." Harper croaked out in anger. He attempted to sit up in defiance, but only fell over as a white-hot pain lanced through him.  
  
"Don't move, boy!" Tyr barked. Harper grimaced in silence. You've all ready lost a lot of blood. If you rip open those stitches . . . I'll have to re-stitch you."  
  
"You'd love that wouldn't you?" Harper was weak, but he still had his attitude. "Why aren't we going to the Maru and getting the hell off this rock?"  
  
"It's not safe to move you that far and you can't walk it."  
  
"I can make it." Harper knew deep down he couldn't, but he hated to acknowledge it.   
  
"We'll go when it's right."  
  
** Later that evening **  
  
Tyr had located a fresh water source in the cavern and brought back some water for the two of them. Harper had fallen into a restless sleep. His dreams were birthed from fever and the Nietzschean watched the young man intensely. He put the back of his hand on Harper's forehead and moved it to his cheek. He was burning up. "Damn you, Harper," he muttered quietly to himself. The young engineer talked most of the evening. These conversations were merely an echo from the past. Tyr had no choice, but to sit and listen. Harper in the midst of his delirium cried out in horror as the Magog attacked the refugee camp. He whimpered at the recall of a distant memory involving a Nietzschean. Tyr couldn't understand every word Harper spoke, but he surmised it was a violent memory and that he had been quite young.  
  
Tyr soaked a cloth and wiped it over Harper's brow. He didn't care for the nurse maid aspect, but he felt somewhat compelled to help the boy. He hated admitting that Harper in all his annoying habits and personality traits had saved his life today. He ran two fingers to the side of the young man's neck - the pulse he felt was rapid and weak. Harper had lost a great deal of blood and the infection was forming a strong hold in his already taxed immune system. Tyr knew he couldn't wait much longer - he had to get Harper to the Maru and back to the Andromeda. He needed the Medical deck.  
  
Harper opened his eyes slowly. He felt a blanket being wrapped around him. "What?"  
  
"It's to keep you warm." Tyr stated firmly. Harper watched as Tyr stood and put his pack over a shoulder and kneeled down to Harper. "We must go." He started to put a hand under Harper's legs and went to his neck, but Harper spoke.  
  
"I can walk," his voice was weak.  
  
"No you can't. Put your arms around my neck." Tyr's tone left no room for argument. Harper acquiesced. Tyr picked up the young human with ease.  
  
Tyr started out for the Maru. The moons of this planet provided more than enough light to see them all the way to the Maru. Harper hadn't spoken since they had left the cavern.  
  
"You still with me, little man?" Tyr asked his voice oddly light. Harper didn't answer, but Tyr felt the boy nod against him as his head rested on a shoulder. "Good. Keep it that way."  
  
"Tyr?" Harper's voice was small - barely audible. The tone caused the Nietzschean to stiffen. The tone was familiar - it was the tone of a man near death.  
  
"Yes, little man?" He kept walking, but his pace quickened.  
  
"My decision you know." It was clearly hard for Harper to talk.  
  
"Damned stupid one, too," Tyr ground out. "Next time listen to me when I tell you to do something, little man."  
  
"No next time."  
  
"Listen to me, boy! You will not die today! There is life in you . . . fight!" Tyr shouted. He saw the Maru and ran the final distance with Harper. He reached the ship and Harper was silent now. Tyr checked him - he was alive, but needed medical attention or he would die. He secured Harper and prepared to leave the planet.  
  
"Andromeda," Tyr spoke.  
  
"Tyr?" Captain Hunt's voice came over the com unit.  
  
"Yes, have Trance in Medical. Harper's been injured."  
  
"It's that serious?" Dylan's voice was urgent.  
  
"Yes, he took a hit with a Gauss gun." Tyr's voice was controlled, but had a hint of something that made everyone on the Command deck tense.  
  
**** Two Hours Later on the Med Deck ****  
  
Trance's face was grim. She had finished treating Harper's wound, but his fever still raged. "His blood volume is very low and the infection has spread to his blood."  
  
"What does he need?" Dylan asked Trance. Beka stood near Harper watching his chest rise and fall evenly - reassuring in its regularity.  
  
Tyr stood silent as he leaned against a far wall.  
  
"I'll have to give him a transfusion, but his type is rare - I'll have to use synthetic blood."  
  
"Synthetic? Will it do the job?" Dylan's voice was concerned.  
  
"It has to, but real would be better. His blood count is severely low. If he doesn't get that transfusion he will die."  
  
"Do it then."  
  
"Trance, you have to save him," Beka spoke for the first time.  
  
Tyr pushed himself off the distant wall, "use my blood."  
  
"What?" Trance studies the tall Nietzschean. "I can't."  
  
"Yes, you can. All Nietzscheans are universal donors. He can have my blood."  
  
"Will it work, Trance?" Captain Hunt asked hopefully.  
  
"I have to test you Tyr to make sure."  
  
"Then do it."  
  
Trance took a sample of Tyr's blood and it was true he could donate to Harper. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes." Tyr's answer was short and he laid back and allowed Trance to attach the necessary equipment and she began the transfusion.  
  
"I may need you to do this more than once, Tyr."  
  
"Fine."  
  
Dylan and Beka left the Medical deck to return to Command. They both left the Med deck surprised, but pleased about Tyr.  
  
"You've been donating over forty five minutes, Tyr - you have to stop." Trance was worried.  
  
"I am fine. He needs this, correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
**** The next day - early morning ****  
  
Trance took vitals from both Harper and Tyr. The Nietzschean was truly like a machine. The previous night he had stayed hooked up to Harper via a tube carrying his blood into the sick young man for three hours. She had insisted she disconnect him for the night and if needed she would transfuse again after Tyr had time to recoup. The Nietzschean was resting comfortably. Trance ran the numbers for Harper's current blood count and viral load. His blood count was coming up, and the infection level in his blood had significantly dropped, but another transfusion was needed in her opinion. Harper had remained unconscious since his arrival to the Andromeda the previous night.  
  
"Tyr?" Trance spoke gently. The Nietzschean opened his eyes.  
  
"Is he improving?"  
  
"Yes, but . . ."  
  
"He still needs more blood?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then hook us up. I'm fine."  
  
"Let me check your blood volumes first." Tyr nodded, but said nothing. He glanced over at the still form of Harper. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it," Trance spoke in amazement. "Your blood count is normal - if I didn't know better I would never have thought you even gave blood."  
  
"Then let's get this started."   
  
Trance hooked them up again and began another transfusion session. Captain Hunt and Beka had stayed out from under foot, but they had been checking in with Trance at regular intervals.  
  
"Tyr?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Why did you volunteer to help Harper?"  
  
"That's between he and I." His voice wasn't gruff, but merely matter of fact. Trance wondered what had occurred between the two men on the planet.  
  
**** Later that morning ****  
  
"I want you to rest for a bit before you leave Medical," Trance said as she disconnected Tyr from Harper.  
  
"Fine. How is he?"  
  
"I just checked his blood count - it's almost back to normal. His fever has broken."   
  
"Then he'll live?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Dylan and Beka walked into Medical and both looked serious. "How is he Trance?" Dylan asked as Beka walked over to look at Harper more closely.  
  
"He'll recover, but it's only because of Tyr. I don't think the synthetic blood would have helped."  
  
"Is it because of Tyr's nanobots?"  
  
"I think so, but also he needed the blood."  
  
"Thank you, Tyr." Dylan nodded at his fellow crewmember. Tyr nodded in return.  
  
"Dylan, I think I need to bring up something to all of you including Tyr." Trance's face had an odd look to it.  
  
"What is it?" Dylan asked.  
  
"Since Harper has been on the Andromeda he has by my calculations had his entire blood volume replaced with Tyr's blood, and . . ." She didn't finish what she was saying.  
  
"What are you saying?"  
  
"That's just it - I'm not sure what to expect. I've run a test on his immune system and it is all ready stronger than it was before his injury."  
  
"Will there be other effects from the transfusion?" Both Dylan and Beka asked in unison. Tyr kept silent and said nothing.  
  
"Time will tell - I guess," was Trance's only reply.  
  
A groan from Harper brought everyone's attention toward him. He opened his eyes up to look into the anxious eyes of Trance, Dylan and Beka. "Hey there," he quipped in a tired tone. They would all have to wait to see if Trance's words would ring true about the effects from the transfusion to Harper - only time would tell.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
